ITT brings its pump interests together
The pump interests of ITT Corporation (USA) have been brought together into a new water-technology company. Xylem incorporates a number of companies — including Lowara and ITT Water & Wastewater and its brands of Flygt, Godwin, Leopold, Sanitaire and Wedeco. Peter Lewington, managing director of Xylem UK explains, ‘Changing the structure of ITT Corporation will allow us to move forward as a standalone company that is focused exclusively on water.’
Lowara, in particular, has seen 40% sales growth in the last two years says Peter Lewington. More than half of the business goes through distributors, but the company also promotes its products to consultants and contractors. A support service team in the UK provides help with commissioning and after-sales care. UK-specific packages are achieved by configuring products as required.
Peter Lewington explains that commercial building services is Lowara’s core business with products for heating and cooling, pressurisation and water boosting.
Less well known are Lowara’s domestic products such as circulating pumps and water-boosting pumps.
A particular growth area has been rainwater harvesting, initially with domestic installations and progressing to larger buildings to help them gain more BREEAM points.
Duncan Lewis, managing director of Lowara UK sees forthcoming EU Directives for reducing the energy consumption of pumps as key market drivers. He points out that energy-efficient pumps in the UK alone would reduce electrical demand by the equivalent of two power stations.
There are two approaches to improving the energy efficiency of pumps — improving hydraulic efficiency and improving motor efficiency.
An aid to pump selection is the Xylect online product selection tool (link below) focuses on project management and preparation of quotations for Lowara, Flygt and Vogel Xylem’s brands. It can access the search function dedicated to a selected range of Goulds Pumps.
Users can search by product type, category, application, output or performance specifications. They can download a record of results within a list of technical data and drawings of the selected pump — including installation instructions and replacement parts, accessories, curves, shaft power output, efficiency and NPSH, product dimensions and 3D drawings.
